South Mumbai sees highest spike in rape cases

MUMBAI: The tony areas of Worli, Byculla, Colaba and Malabar Hill in south Mumbai saw the biggest spike in rape cases (172%) from 2013-14 to 2017-18, according to a white paper released by NGO Praja on Tuesday. North Mumbai comprising Dahisar, Borivli and Malad West saw the biggest increase in cases of molestation (186%) during the period. Activists said the high figures could be a result of more women coming forward to lodge complaints.

“It is no more a taboo to report a crime. Women are willing to take a stand and not let the offender get off. This could explain the surge in cases of molestation. A spike in figures for rape could be the result of more reporting of intimate relationships between teenagers. These would be legally recorded as rape, since a girl less than 18 years old does not have the capacity to consent as per law,” Nandita Shah, co-director at Akshara, a women’s resource centre, said. “Overall, the gender equality environment does not exist. Violence has increased, reporting of crimes has increased, and so has reporting of teenage relationships as rape,” Shah added.



Data gathered by Praja showed an increase in child sexual abuse cases under the Pocso Act, from 891 cases in 2015-16 to 1,062 in 2017-18. In both these years, female victims were far greater in number than male victims. “Even the slightest rise in this number is alarming as it shows the city is becoming unsafe for children. It is necessary to create awareness with all stakeholders, i.e. children, families, schools and colleges,” said Nitai Mehta, founder of Praja Foundation.

In 2015, ex-DGP Sanjeev Dayal had ordered separation of investigation units from law and order units at police stations. Praja’s analysis found a shortage in strength of police personnel tasked with investigation, i.e., from the rank of assistant police commissioner up to the constabulary. “There is a shortage of 22% between the sanctioned and working strength of policemen in 2018. We also found a serious shortage in strength of permanent public prosecutors. While the sanctioned strength is 15, only 2 permanent PPs are working,” said Yogesh Mishra of Praja. Permanent prosecutors have been able to get 27% convictions, while those in contractual positions have got 31% as on December 2017, the data showed. “A shortfall in strength of investigating officers as well as PPs would affect conviction rates,” Mishra added.

“If there is increase in reporting of rape and molestation cases, it means more people are coming forward to give complaints. Increase in registration should be taken as a positive as it shows openness and friendliness of the police among the public. The increase in registration should be appreciated. As far as shortage of manpower goes, Mumbai has more than 50,000 police personnel out of 2.2 lakh personnel in Maharashtra. Across India, Mumbai has the highest public-police ratio,” said city police spokesperson DCP Manjunath Shinge.